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I have been reading posts from the site now for a few weeks and I am always amazed when folk post about stalling. I'm not due for my surgery until the 22nd of this month and like all of us want to know what to expect pre and post surgery, but I am always so amazed at the panic that seems to be displayed when one is not losing weight. Managing one's expectations would be my advice. We do not gain weight instantly nor will we lose weight that way. We all heal differently and our bodies will react differently. Don't jump on the scale every day, again manage the expectation. Try once a week or do a bi-monthly weigh in. Be true to yourself. I know for example that I may cheat on my pre-op diet over the next two weeks. But since there are buffers provided by my NUT, I purchased what I will need to succeed, unsweetened applesauce and SF jello. They will be great snacks in between slimfast shakes. Adjust your diet, use tools that will help, myfitnesspal.com is a good source. Have a good intake of water, and as should be our norm by now, take in protein first. I think another suggestion is not to give up. We worked so hard to get here, over come all types of problems in order to succeed. Let stall equate to adjust, that is what your body and systems are doing, adjusting. This new way of eating and lifestyle takes some adjusting. As we continue on our journery I wish us all success.

One month has flown by and I had my big weigh in at the doctors office, which I was excited to see what it would say. I am at 202 from 235! In one month I lost 33 pounds and have went down a size in pants and 1/2 a shoe size. I also was wearing a 2XL to now wearing some L. So glad I had this life changing surgery!

Guinness World Records called me today. It was out of the blue and I thought it was my shameful little secret. But apparently being startled by a squirrel can help you become a Guinness record breaker. I was in the kitchen messing around and heard some scratches in the utility room. Upon opening the door, I was confronted by a dastardly squirrel. Being a normal (sort of) person, I figured if I stepped towards him, he'd head for the hills. But no, he charged me! Squirrels aren't supposed to charge! They're supposed to hang upside down on the sides of trees and play funny games of tag with each other. It's in the Squirrel Manual. Chapter 1 - Squirrels are supposed to look cute, chase each other, and RUN whenever confronted by things that outweigh them by 300 lbs. This squirrel, obviously, was a dropout. He's the kinda punk squirrel that skips squirrel school, hangs around the pool hall, and smokes. I would add that he's a heroine addict, but I didn't have time to check his little squirrel arm for tracks - I was too busy trying to release the squirrel back into his natural habitat. By that, I mean that I screamed like a girl and slammed the door. That's where Guinness comes in. I thought my shameful little secret was my own, until I got the phone call. Apparently Guinness heard the scream and the door slam at their headquarters and tracked it back to me. I wondered how they tracked it back to me, until I saw the fault line (apparently caused by my slamming the door) snaking across my property and down the street. I now have two Guinness records - one for Loudest Girly Scream from a Man and Hardest Door Slam Without Knocking the Door Off the Hinges. P.S. The Man Club heard about it as well. I tried to explain that I was employing my catlike Ninja skills and the scream was my way of focusing my Chakras - but they weren't buying it. They said they had already given me a break on the whole Monarch Butterfly incident, but they couldn't give me a pass on this one. I now have 2 points on my Man Card. One more point and I have to take a refresher class. :-( P.P.S Does setting the world record for screaming like a girl count as an aerobic workout??????

But it's your job to get rid of the wild animal that could have rabies...

Feeling much better as of late, almost 100%. There is some pain at my port site but only when i'm lifting heavy items/exercising. My appetite is surpressed but feels normal. I still count my calories and I'm definitely eating less but doesn't feel like it so that's a good thing. Had my first post-surgery doctor's appt. a few days ago, doctor said I'm right on track with where I should be. I lost a few more lbs. again, basically what I had gained. I asked my doctor about the yo-yo-ing and he said that was normal right now, mostly it's water weight. So today I was 264 (yesterday was 263.6). Tried cooked cherries in liquid today...mashed them with the fork...went down fine. I'm actually surprised I haven't thrown up anything but I am trying to be very consistent with the diet plan my doctor/nutritionist provided. Worked out this morning before work, 30min on treadmill and some weight lifting. Went fine, probably could have gone longer if not for time constraints. My major concern is that I was at one point 344 lbs. if I get to my goal weight of 145, I will mostly likely need major plastic surgery especially since the majority of my weight is carried in my stomach/abdominal area. My arms...bat wings... already have some loose skin and are sagging so that is a concern as well, I am doing arm bands to help that area. My doctor said that since I'm young and very active, loose skin should not be a problem, very minimal if at all. I can't help but feel like loose-excess skin is a definite issue. I am 99.99% certain I will have major excess skin. I can't afford plastic surgery and I'm afraid I'll look worse "skinny" than fat. My main motivation is my health but I'm worried of becoming depressed or obsessed with the way my body looks especially taking excess skin into consideration. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens. I'll just do everything "they" say to do to prevent it and hope for the best! It's discouraging to get so far as to loose 100's of lbs and feel like only half your journey is conquered.

So funny! I don't think I would have even opened the door!

That poor woman needs to kick him to the curb.. My husband started out 37 years ago with a 93 lb wife.. I got to 200 lbs.. he never complained.. he was concerned for my health but never once acted embarrassed or made rude comments.. He knows how much I wanted to lose weight.. he has stuck with me through every crazy diet plan I ever wanted to do... If I gained it back he'd just say well honey you will have to try again if that's what you want to do.. sounds like this guy is a jack ass... we all can't have wonderful husbands I guess... I am blessed..sounds like you are too.

Well I have 5 weeks from today until my surgery on Aug 9th. Can't hardly wait!! Right now I'm focusing on exercise. I have an RN case manager and she said to increase physical activity to be as strong as possible for surgery. I'm doing alot of walking and went hiking the past two nights. It's interesting that I can do more now than 5 years ago and 100 pounds lighter. 5 years ago when I couldn't walk that far on the local walking trail or hiking made me feel like I was going to die I just blamed it on being fat. Maybe I was in denial of how bad my smoking was affecting my health. Now I weigh 100 pounds more and I'm am able to do so much more than I thought possible since quitting smoking over 3 months ago. Of course the bigger you are the more calories you burn and I'm a pretty big girl so I do find myself hungry and stomach growling not long after exercise. I'm worried that during my pre-op diet when I will only be getting 800-900 calories a day that it is going to be very difficult to exercise and that I just won't have the energy. I guess I will do as much as possible now in case this does become a problem. But what about after the surgery? I'll be consuming less calories than that and I'll need to find the energy to exercise. This is something I've been worried about. I will probably just have to suck it up and do it no matter how I feel!! Believe

Thanks for your story. This is my last fat 4th of July!!

I made it with no pain meds and I'm a wimp! You got this!